


More Than Human

by sp1lt_1nk



Series: cyborg in space fics [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: (Due to futuristic technologies), Accidental Child Acquisition, Accidental Grogu | Baby Yoda Acquisition, Adorable Grogu | Baby Yoda, Alien Character(s), Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Technology, Alien/Human Relationships, Alternate Timelines, Aromantic Din Djarin, Cyborg Character, Gen, ManDadlorian, Mandalorian Adoption (Star Wars), Mechanics, Medical Conditions, Medical Inaccuracies, No Slash, Nonbinary Character, Original POC Character, Parent-Child Relationship, Physical Disability, Planet Jakku (Star Wars), Prosthesis, Protective Din Djarin, Soft Din Djarin, Spaceships, Teenage Rebellion, cyberpunk/steampunk character, heart issues, implied PTSD, pacemaker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:21:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28406181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sp1lt_1nk/pseuds/sp1lt_1nk
Summary: *formally named: Birthright* On an unplanned visit to Jakuu, the Mandalorian meets Jay, a human cyborg mechanic looking for a way to get back to Navarro. Willing to trade a valuable personal item for transportation , Jay joins the crew of the razor crest (only the mandalorian and the child) on what wassupposedto be a quick transport mission.*bonus content will be made as one shots attached to this series, if you want more jay&mando&grogu or jay/Kori content check those out in the future!*
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din Djarin & Original Character(s), Original Character/Original Character
Series: cyborg in space fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2080470
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have so many plans for Jay and I cant wait to write them! this first fic will be multi-chaptered but only up until the main introduction is over. ill add the rest as single fics to the series as I go. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Winding up on Jakku was a complete mistake. Din preferred travelling in the outer rim because he knew it well, but with bounty hunters crawling all over it was unsafe for him and the child to stay for long periods of time. They'd been travelling through hyperspace when suddenly the Razor Crest sprung a leak, the stress had finally fractured the main fuel canister.

Abruptly Din was jerked awake as alarms blared the Razor Crest lurched out of hyperspace, five hours before they were supposed to arrive.

According to the star map, they were entering the inner rim and had two choices for landing: the Codian moon or Jakku. The codian moon was small and was unlikely to have somewhere to fix the Crest, while Jakku was a giant scrapheap of scavengers and other unsavoury people.

They could just barely make it to Jakku with the emergency fuel, spending hours at a time drifting with small bursts from the engines to keep them in the right direction. The child spent a lot of time trying to steal the silver ball from the thruster rod, using his sorcerer powers to unscrew and levitate it into his hands. Each time Din would smile under the safety of his helmet at the child’s mischievous giggles before the child would try to give the ball to him.

Din was confused at first as to why the child wanted him to have the metal ball, so he just screwed it back on the control and went back to trying to sleep. A moment later he’d hear the child giggling to himself only to open his eyes to see that once again the metal ball was in outstretched little green hands.

 _so that’s what he wants,_ Din thought as he re-screwed the ball. 

The game continued until halfway through levitating to the kid, the ball dropped and the little creature’s eye drifted shut.

At first, Din was alarmed that he had used so much of his powers to hurt himself, but when the quiet snores filtered through his helmet he realized the child had just fallen asleep midway through the game.

Picking up the ball from the floor, Din returned it to his rightful place on the rod. Gently, he scooped up the child and deposited him in the little hammock in their shared sleeping quarters. 

The child was still asleep when Din awkwardly landed the Razor Crest on the outskirts of the Niima outpost. The Holonet had said there was a starport, but all that greeted Din was a vast scape of sand and dust. 

The landing was rough, but he was just thankful that there was solid ground to land on. The crest groaned as it finally touched down and Din let out the breath he’d been holding through the landing process. Now, to gather what credits he had and things worth of value to trade with. There didn’t look to be much work in bounty hunting in the small and isolated outpost.

After gathering what he could, Din retrieved the miraculously still sleeping child from the hammock and carefully tucked him into his satchel before walking out into the boiling heat of Jakku. 

He wandered through the only market looking for anything compatible with his ship. Unfortunately, most of the pieces seemed to be from old empire ships, nothing that could easily be popped in and done with. It would take some modification to make imperial parts work but until he found any fuel canisters or something similar he was stuck on this planet until further notice.

He could find nothing in the market, although many rushed to sell him other parts, he had no interest until his fuel situation was fixed enough to travel by hyperspeed again. One merchant suggested visiting a woman called Maisey, one of the better mechanics that worked out of the outpost. 

“She don’t do so much of the repairs herself now’days, but her droid does good work for the credits.” the older man said after trying to sell Din on some old gadgets he didn't even recognize.

The droid aspect made Din skeptical, but after reluctantly asking around it seemed like the only people who knew anything about pre-imperial ships and new-republic ships.

Din was unsure what to expect when he walked into the small tent. The lack of building on Jakku was a new experience and he was glad to finally get out of the wind. The tent was large but barren. Din's hope of finding a decent mechanic was dwindling when a stout old woman scuttled out from behind a section of the tent.

“Well I'll be damned, don’t get many of y’all around these parts,” she said as she inspected Din from helmet to boots. “What can I do for you, boy?”

A little taken aback at the ‘boy’ comment Din quickly put himself together before answering. “I need you to repair a busted fuel canister on a pre-empire ship,” he stated. “And no droids. I’ll pay extra”

“Don't go callin’ ‘em a droid; thought you’d have more manners than that,” she said with a frown. “I Don’t got no droids, we do it by the old books here. Bring your ship, ‘round back, Gotta see the damned thing first, not gonna give you a quote until I know just what I’m signin’ up for… _if_ you can even get it off the ground.”

“Might take a while, don’t have any fuel left,” Din admitted. He still had some things he could trade for fuel but to lug it all the way back to his ship was something he had no interest in doing unless absolutely necessary.

“I’ll send the kid with you then, got much younger legs than I do,” she said, laughing. She patted Din on the arm as she hobbled past him. 

_strang old lady_ , Din thought to himself as the old woman hollered for ‘the kid.’ meanwhile the child was starting to squirm in the bag, having finally woken up from his post-sorcerer-power nap.

As he was trying to settle the child, Maisey re-entered the main tent. “they're waitin’ for you out front. They’ll take payment after an assessment.”

“Thank you,” Din replied, just glad that he wouldn’t be stuck on this dusty rock much longer.

Outside the tent was indeed someone on a speeder bike, and as Din squinted through the sand he realized it was a droid. _crazy old woman said she didn’t have any droids!_

He was about to turn back and insist he could find someone else to do the job when the droid turned.

“Hey mister! Maisey said you needed to get back to the landing field,” the droid- no the cyborg yelled at him. Having turned Din could make out that at least part of it was human; their left leg and arm certainly were not. “Are you coming or what?”

Their wore a sleeveless shirt that revealed a prosthetic arm that looked sort of like an L3 model missed with a pit droid. They wore protective goggles that had seen far better days and the rest of their face was covered with a bandana, probably to keep out the sand. The sections of skin din could see were tanned so dark din was sure it wasn’t all from the hot sun on Jakku. They waved din over before tying up their sun bleached dreads.

Swallowing a groan Din reluctantly climbed onto the speeder bike. The cyborg, nothing more than a kid he realized, was frozen in front of him.

“Well, Din prompted. “Are you going to take off?”

“You’re… no way… you’re a Mandalorian,” they gasped, and Din could hear the distortion for a voicebox as they stuttered. He could imagine their wide-eyed and jaw-dropped expression under their goggles and mask- _If_ they had a human mouth that was.

“Yep.”

“Thats- wow- I’m-”

“Look kid, are you going to drive or what?” asked pointedly.

At that, the kid seemed to straighten themself out. “Yes, sorry sir. Hold on please.”

The ride back to the so-called ‘starport’ was quick, unlike the assessment of his ship. The kid was constantly poking around and looking at things that had nothing to do with the busted fuel canister. 

The child at this point was fed up with being stuffed in a hot satchel and had been placed in the sand only to whine at the heat, trying to crawl up Din’s leg in an attempt to get away from the irritating feeling of hot sand.

“I know buddy, but there’s nowhere cool on this planet,” Din Said softly, picking up the child to be held in the crook of his arm and safely hidden in the shade of his cloak.

“Don’t have a cooling unit?” the kid, who Din had learned was named Jay, asked as they rounded the star crest, wiping grease off their flesh hand on their shirt. 

Din knew his unamused expression was inhibited by his helmet, but his tone of voice wasn’t lost even through the helmet’s distortion. “I do, just don't have the _fuel_ to run it.”

“Ah, well good news! It’s an easy fix. Shouldn't take more than three days. And you can stay at my place; it's modified for the heat and cold. The little guy should be feeling much better.” True to the cyborg’s comment, the child’s ears were flushed and drooping. The heat was probably getting to the baby much faster than himself.

“three days pop in a new canister?” Din scoffed _you've got to be kidding_

“Yeah, considering the working hours on Jaaku only last from three in the morning to 10 and from 3 to 11. Not to mention scavenging a fuel tank that’ll fit and the imperial to pre-empire modifications… you’re looking at least two to three working days.” Jay explained. Their expression was hidden by their goggles and mask, but their posture and tone of voice showed clear annoyance.

“Long lunch break,” Din commented sharply, sneakily trying to press the child against the slowly warming Beskar in hopes to cool him down.

“I Would rather not die of sunstroke,” Jay countered, equally as cutting. “It’ll only cost you about… an even 250 credits.”

“250? Look here, kid-”

“Look here Mandalorian, Maisey would charge you at least 600 for the same job, but I'm cutting you a deal because I need your help.”

“Need to hire a bounty hunter?” Din asked sarcastically. 

“I need- what? No. I need to get off this planet,” came the answer Din was not expecting. 

_oh no not again_

“I am not a taxi service,” he said firmly. Definitely not after the frog Lady incident; he and the child travelled alone from then on.

“Look,” the kid pleaded, “I can pay you-”

“No. fix the ship; I'll pay the 600 credits,” Din said and it was the last they spoke of it for almost three days.

As much as the cyborg annoyed him, they did a good job of fixing up the crest. For 600 credits they fixed the fuel canister as well as a few other things Din had put off since they weren't strictly necessary. The Razor Crest was looking the best it had in a while. It still needed a complete overhaul but at least pieces weren't falling off at the hint of a stiff breeze.

He and the child had stayed with the cyborg while waiting out the repairs due to not having either a cooling or heating system running on the crest. While the days of Jakku were sweltering, the nights were almost worse with their freezing temperatures. 

The cyborg had made a home out of an abandoned imperial shuttle and while partially submerged in the sand, it functioned as a good shelter for a single person. With Din and the child, however, it was a tight fit, not to mention the three half-built droids that also took up space. 

Being around a half-droid made Din uncomfortable enough, but three lifeless droids set him completely on edge. Jay had rambled a bit about each of their designed functions but Din was uninterested and didn't remember much except they were all non-lethal in their empire days. 

It was their last night on Jakku and Din was sure that the whole escape Planetside thing was over... but he should have known better. the kid was ruthlessly stubborn in everything they did, regardless if it was fixing a ship or bargaining at the trading post. 

The Mandalorian was halfway through feeding the child his dinner of ration bread when Jay returned with a heavy bag clutched in their hand. 

"I know you refused but-" 

"No." 

"Just hear me out okay! I can pay you in Beskar." 

Din choked as he fought down a dismissive laugh. "Yeah right kid, where'd you-" 

Din stopped short as the cyborg pulled out a black Mandalorian helmet from the bag. "I need to return it to a Mandalorian since that's the code. I'll trade the armour for safe passage on your ship." 

He could easily take the armour from the kid, they were all lean muscle and no core strength. Their mental arm could be a bit of an issue but a bolt through the head would take care of that if it came to it.

Din looked closer at the helmet. it was small, much too small for an adult Mandalorian; a child's then. 

"Where do you get this?" He asked. 

"I found it." 

_Liar_

"Where'd it come from, kid." He asked sternly, standing to his full height and looming over the cyborg.

"I-I knew him before he died," the kid stuttered. "I didn't want someone to-to take it who didn't know the way." 

They were telling the truth as far as Din could tell, even without seeing their eyes.

"What was his name?" He asked, voice softening slightly as he sat down again. 

"Asher Rim; we knew each other on Navarro,'' Jay explained, tucking the helmet back into their bag. 

The mention of Navarro spiked din's interest. The kid couldn't be any older than 20 years old based on their height and voice. So their friend could have been any range of ages. He remembered the news of a young Mandalorian dying from an explosion. Din hadn't known them personally but the tribe had been devastated at the loss of a youngling. The possibility that he was the same person was small, but Mandalorians were uncommon on Navarro, especially with the restrictions from The Watch.

"I'm… I'm sorry for your loss." din said eventually, looking into jay's reflective goggles.

The cyborg just shook their head. "It was years ago; I can't use the armour regardless. Can you fly me back to Navarro?" 

"In exchange for the armour, yes." The Mandalorian replied somewhat reluctantly. "We leave first thing tomorrow. Make sure you're ready to go."


	2. Chapter 2

True to his word din was packed up and ready to go as soon as the heat woke him up. Standard planet time it was 5 am and din was itching to get back on the crest and to be flying once more. The child wasn't pleased when din tried to settle him in the satchel for the ride back to the landing Field, but after sticking his head out of the bag once and getting so much sand in his huge eyes, he had learned to stay in the bag while on the speeder. 

Jay was up before the mandalorian. miraculously already attaching a few bags to the speeder when Din left the renovated ship to find him. 

One bag held the mandalorian armour, another was unknown to din, and the third was a small bag that jay seemed to be wearing almost constantly; a small thin tube ran from the bag underneath the cyborg's clothes. Din couldn't begin to figure out what it's function was. Probably a power source of some kind, he guessed.

The child was enamoured with the cyborg, constantly trying to touch their metal arm or leg, even once trying to remove the eyepatch the cyborg wore when they weren't wearing their goggles. Din wasn't a hypocrite and actually felt a small spark of understanding for the kid. He’d observed Jay over the course of the short times they’d spent together; If armour and helmets weren’t such a core part of the mandalorian creed, some would probably assume them to be from similar religions. Jay never ate around din, not that din ate around them either. It seemed to be a personal affair and din had little interest pressuring the curiosity that flared in his mind. They never showed part of their face as well, always leaving to remove the goggles and returning with an eyepatch that seemed to cover part of their cheek as well. 

Din wasn’t blind, regardless of the slight difference viewing through the HUD of his helmet and his normal eyesight. He could see the scars that branched out from under the eyepatch and Jay's shirt; the cut off sleeves didn't hide much and Jay's dreads didn’t reach past their nose to cover the scar intersecting with their lips or the ones on their neck and shoulders.

The kid had been through something terrible and as much as din told himself not to get involved, after looking after the little green child, he’d noticed he was slightly more caring about those sorts of things. Try as he might to push it out of his head, no one lost two limbs and had extensive scarring from something pleasant. No one obsessed so much over their limb either. 

Must be awful to be a droid- or partial droid- and living in a desert, mused Din when while watched jay twist off their leg and shake the sand out of the knee joint.

“You’re up early,”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Jay confessed as they bent down to twist their leg back on. “I Haven’t been this jittery to leave a planet in a long time.”

“Don’t twitch too hard and get us all killed,” Din said as he climbed on the speeder, leaving room for Jay to steer. He’d meant it partially as a joke, but casual humour and him didn’t mix well.

It was hard to read Jay's response. They took a deep breath before hopping on the speeder. “Would be a terrible thing to kill my only ride off this junkheap,” they mumbled, probably to themself, din thought. 

‘Haven’t been too bad so far. Just don’t get cocky.”

Jay let out a nervous laugh at that remark. “No need to worry your chrome head about that one, mando,” they said before revving the engine and speeding off into the dunes. 

Once everyone was situated on the crest a while later, din did a quick pre-flight check, making sure that both engines were online and all other functions were normal. The new fuel canister was hooked up and showing a full tank thanks to the spare pieces din was able to trade at the outpost. 

“Buckle up kid,” the mandalorian grunted at Jay as he started to warm up the engines. He looked over his shoulder to make sure that child was also safely in his seat. He’d made some modifications to the seat belt so it fit the little guy better, but he still fussed and whined when din strapped him in. Once they were out of the atmosphere he could go back to being free in the cabin again. 

Din switched on the thrusters and the crest vibrated and groaned as the pressure on the landing stabilizers lessened as the crest slowly started to gain altitude. 

Din couldn’t help but chuckle to himself after sneaking a glance to see Jay gripping tightly to the armrests of their chair. 

“Relax, she’s only crashed once during take off.” 

“P-please don’t say that” Jay groaned, tightly shutting their exposed eye as the crest slowly climbed higher.

“If you’re sick, you clean it up.” din informed them, keeping his gaze ahead as he initiated the sequence to start the actual ascend out of the landing field. 

“I won’t,” Jay assured him, but their voice was tight and heavy with compensation from their voice modulator. 

Din was rarely around new flyers. The only real experience was with the child, and he’d been ecstatic to sit in the cabin as Din twisted, turned, and spun to escape bounty hunters and one giant worm creature in an asteroid belt. The mandalorian got the overwhelming sense that Jay would not appreciate that type of flying, not for a while. 

Ascending through the atmosphere was always a little shaky, but the razor crest, contradictory to what din had said, had never truly had any issues with taking off... Landing was a different story. 

It only took a few moments until the rattling stopped and then it was smooth flying from Jakku to Ryloth, where they could re-fuel before making the final jump to Navarro. Both Jay and the child would probably appreciate the change in scenery and temperature, din found himself thinking before sharply cutting off the thought. 

_you’re getting soft mando, pull it together_

The trip would take at least two weeks, After setting the course for Ryloth and entering hyperspace, din checked on Jay who was still frozen in the co-pilot seat. 

“Hey kid, you can open your eyes now.” The mandalorian said gruffly, pushing himself out of his chair with practiced ease. 

Jay carefully opened one eye, and then slowly let go of the arm rest they were clutching, eye wide as they watched the stars zip by at unimaginable speed. 

“Woah,” they gasped, the passing stars reflecting on the rare patches of polished metal on their arm. “I’ve never travelled like this before.”

“How’d you get to Jakku then?”

“Cargo-ship. It got hijacked by pirates from the outer rim though. They were heading to Jakku looking for rare parts from imperial ships. They probably wanted to sell on the Black market. Only kept me around because I was good at fixing things, or learned quickly how to.” Jay explained as they unlocked their arm, popped it off, and quickly cleaned the joints with a cloth seemingly pulled from thin air. 

“Huh,” muttered din as he freed the child from his seat. Immediately his little arms shot up as he stretched accompanied by a huge yawn for such a small creature. 

Big shining eyes looked back at din after a moment and then the child’s hands were outstretched towards him, the gesture he’d learned meant that the child wanted to be picked up or carried.

“Happy to be back, little guy?” Din asked quietly as he picked up the child, who’s ears twitched as he cocked his head. The mandalorian knew the child couldn’t fully understand everything he was saying, but it didn’t hurt to talk to him. He’d read on the holiness that children, although much younger than fifty years old, benefited from nearing their parents to advance their own vocabulary. The child would babble but whether in a language din couldn’t understand, or just as very young children do, he was never quite sure.

He was currently lying against Din’s shoulder, tiny three fingered hands fisted in his cloak as Din got up to organize and check the supplies. Food could be an issue if he hadn’t traded for enough on Jakku before they left.

“You can get up and walk around, just don’t… touch or break anything,” he said over his shoulder as he opened the cabin doors. 

“I did get this ship flying you know,” Jay responded. “I’m not looking to send it crashing through space any time soon.” 

“Don’t touch anything,” din repeated sternly before climbing down the ladder into the cargo hold.

Counting food packets didn’t take long and din took an extra moment to sort them for easier access. Meal tended to be a last minute on the razor crest, something he was trying to fix since he now had a chained to look after. 

There’d be enough food to last them until their stop on Ryloth over a week away. 

Now to do what he’d actually come down for. 

Jay had handed over the armour before even entering the razor crest, holding the bag out to din with juvenile trust, not that din was going to go back on his word. Based on the weight it wasn’t just a helmet and some pauldrons. 

As much as he prepared himself for the child sized armour, his heart still sank as he held a vembrace in his hands, so small compared to his. The child couldn’t have been more than 13 at the time, perhaps even younger depending on their race. Along with the helmet and vembraces were the rest of a full set of mandalorian armour, most of it black but one pure beskar pauldron, a symbol of a mythosaur welded onto its shiny surface. 

He lost time going over the armour, looking at places where the black shell had been scraped and peeled away showing the thin layer of beskar underneath. Hell of a fight, or an extremely powerful explosion.

It was only when he heard a heavy thump from the upstairs that he hurriedly set down the armour, scooped up the child, and quickly scaled the ladder to get back in the cabin. 

‘Kid, I told you not to-” din stopped talking as he entered the cabin. Jay was on the floor, eye wide as he took in a shuddering breath, his right hand clamped over his chest.

“Dank Farrik,” he swore, setting the child down so he could kneel in front of Jay. “What’s wrong kid.”

“I’m okay,” they panted, but gave a tired smile. “Just got dizzy... must have stood up too fast or something.”

“Flying for the first time can be a bit disorientating.” Din said softly, trying to calm the still panicked look on Jay's face. His own heart beating quickly from the adrenaline. “Hold on for a second.”

Din quickly grabbed a hydration pack from the shelf in the cargo hold, thankful that he had bothered to organize it earlier. When he returned he was met with the sight of the child sitting in Jay's lap, his little arms outstretched to press against Jay's chest, his eyes screwed tightly shut. Jay seemed to be catching their breath, arms now limp at their sides. 

“What’s he doing?” Jay mumbled drowsily, blinking a few times before looking up at din, who wordlessly handed them the pack. 

“Not sure. He’s…. special. Maybe he’s trying to heal you,” he theorized, unsure whether to interrupt the child or let him finish whatever he was doing. 

Jay only hummed in response before using their robotic arm to grab the small bag they kept with them at all times. 

Din watched quietly as Jay unzipped the bag and drew out what looked like an oversized syringe. 

Immediately his hand was on his blaster, but Jay only held it out to let him inspect it. There was no needle and it seemed harmless: there was nothing in it. He let his hands relax and took a seat opposite Jay, uncharacteristically curious about what was going on with this damn kid.

Jay very carefully opened the hydration pack and sucked up as much of the water as they could before fishing under their shirt and showing din a clear plastic tube, like the one that din thought was connected to a power source. 

He watched as Jay uncapped the tube and attached the syringe to it then slowly started to push the water down the tube.

“I gave that to you to drink, not to do that.” The mandalorian grunted, having decided that the child should save some energy he tried to pluck him from jay’s chest, but he squirmed and whined so din gave up quickly. It wasn’t worth fighting over it.

Jay didn’t look up when they responded. “I know.”

When he gave no follow up comment they continued: “It’s how I drink,” they explained. “Also how I eat.”

 _oh_ thought din, mentally chastising himself. 

“When they put in my voice modulator they had to make some… adaptations. Not having a stomach and only partial intestines made it easy to give up the ability to swallow food.” Jay shrugged as if it was an everyday occurrence, although for them it already was.

Worse things that not eating, din supposed. They seemed to be doing just fine regardless.

“Did you get to make that choice?’ din probed against his better judgement. He kept telling himself he wouldn’t form any connections with Jay, but being stuck on a ship for three weeks with the kid and not knowing anything about them would be impossible. 

“No, but it’s one that’s saved my life; the droids did a good job with what they had to work with.” 

The silence in the cabin was thick and uncomfortable, irritation was rolling off Jay in waves; din knew it must be a painful subject so he searched for something else to distract everyone involved. 

“Did you give yourself a tour while fixing her?” He asked eventually, gesturing to the razor crest. 

“Uh, no not really, just part of the cargo hold and the engines.” Jay replies as they caped their tube and shipped it dry before placing the syringe back in its place. 

“Common, going to need you to know your way around if I need you to fix something.”

So din gave an unenthusiastic overview of the crest, mostly pointing out important things for maintenance and where to find basic things like food and water. Jay was a quick learner; halfway through learning where all the power couplers that managed the lighting system were, Jay had refigured the set-up and added code to the main computer to make the lights turn off on the ship when life forms were not detected in that area.

“Did it with my ship, saved a decent amount of the battery life.’ They explained. “Simple and very effective.” 

“Am I supposed to pay you for… this?” Din asked gesturing to the flashing control board; Help was rarely given freely.

“What? No of course not. It’s barely anything.” Jay laughed, reaching with their prosthetic arm to pat din on the shoulder but withdrawing quickly when the mandalorian suddenly stepped back. 

The kid didn’t bring it up, and din was grateful.

“You’ll sleep in here,” din explained as he opened up the cot and started pulling his and the child’s meaner belongings from the small space. 

“But it’s your bed-”

“I’m not going to make a kid sleep on the floor,” the mandalorian argued. 

“But your baby-” 

He’s got his own bed,” din explained, punching in some directions for the egg shaped pram on his vembrace. It wasn’t much use as transportation but it still was secure enough for the child to sleep in. "He’s not my baby," he added.

. . . . 

That arrangement only worked for a week. Din was too old to be sleeping on the floor; Sure, he had made it work for a few nights while tracking down a bounty, but between now wearing his helmet to sleep as well as the awkwardly cobbled together mat he slept on, it was really starting to disagree with his back, neck and shoulders. 

Not to mention Jay was constantly up at strange hours of the sleeping cycle. they didn’t walk around much, but they would wake up and mutter something about breaking something, pleading for something. Thankfully the kid could shake themselve of of it without din needing to interfere. 

Din had his experiences with nightmares and trauma. He had spent every widespread holiday floating in space to get away from the sounds of exploding fireworks and the loud shouts of people. He’d recently been having dreams of Jay's unattached arm straggling either him or the child in their sleep. 

The child was another struggle. he still demanded to be picked up and held at all hours of the night cycle. Alternatively he would whine, fuss, and struggle until din picked him up and walked around the cargo hold until he fell back asleep. 

Safe to say he wasn’t sleeping much

It was their last few hours on the jump to ryloth and din had finally discovered that stratifically swiveling the passenger seats in the cabin could provide a slightly better sleeping accommodation than what he was using previously.

The quiet hum of the razor crest washed over him like white noise, lulling him back to a calm state on the brink of unconsciousness. The child was sleeping with jay, an arrangement din had no been happy about at first. However, after a few days of jay being on board the razor crest, it was clear the child was very curious and interested in jay. It wasn't like the child was sleeping in his hammock, din wouldn't let them both use the cot due to the dream about Jay's arm, but the child was happy to continue sleeping in his bassinet below deck. 

This arrangement had been running smoothly for a few hours until there was a loud thump followed by a wailing sound. 

Immediately din was up and rushing down the ladder to the cargo hold, the wailing growing louder as he descended the steps two at a time. 

His heart leapt into his throat when he spotted the empty bassinet, the child nowhere to be seen. The mandalorian quickly followed the sound of the child’s cries to the cot. In front of the opening in the wall, Jay was sprawled face down on on the floor, thier leg and arm missing. The child had pressed himself against the cyborg’s back, now looking expectantly up at din with shining wet eyes as he rushed over and knelt next to the cyborg. 

“Hey kid, it was just a nightmare,” din said, attempting to sound comforting

Jay only seemed to notice the mandalorian after he spoke, their head sluggishly turning only to break into a strange expression. Their skin looked different in the dim night cycle lighting, their usually rich skin now looking washed out. Din could also see that without the eyepatch, Jay’s left eye was inverted with black sclera and yellow iris. Din could hear the metallic sound of it adjusting in its socket, dilating and contracting in the faint light.

“I didn’t mean to,” They mumbled, eyes fighting to say open, their breathing was ragged much like din heard when they woke suddenly in the night. 

“Happened to the best of us, do you need… help?’ Din asked, usually Jay could get around without assist when they took their leg off.

“I can’t- it’s not- the creed I-” they stuttered and din fought back a shiver on how their voice box made the sound like a malfunctioning droid. 

“Deep breaths kid, you’re not wherever you were before.” din was less sure of himself now. He’d had similar experiences but he’d never had to talk anyone down from this sort of thing before. The cyborg seemed dazed and confused, their gasping breaths hadn’t evened to even out either. 

_This was not part of the job description_ , din thought as he pulled Jay into a sitting position when they made no move to do it themself. The child had started to climb back onto the cyborg but din firmly shook his head. “Not the time, adi’ka.” 

With the kid leaning precariously on the wall and the child watching them with wide frightened eyes, din quickly went to grab a hydration pack. 

“No don’t leave,” came a half broken groan. Din quickly turned back to reassure Jay that he would be back in a tick but the dazed expression on their face made his stomach sink. “it wasn’t- wasn’t my fault-” they continued desperately, reaching for din and almost unbalancing themself in the process. “gedetir-”

“How do you know mando’a?” Din interrupted but immediately regretted; the kid was clearly stuck in some sort of flashback and was in no right mindset to answer intrusive questions. He filed that thought away for later as he made the decision to get the hydration pack.

“Don’t- Can’t anymore, broke the- my-” they mumbled, their voice dropping off before sputtering back to life with a hiccup. “Can’t… breathe.” their head lolled to the side as if holding it up took too much energy. Their remaining human eye started to roll back in their socket.

“Hey! Kid, no don’t do that,” din cursed, abandoning the packet on the floor to grab them by the shoulder to keep them from slumping over. “You’re breathing… to slow?" Their heart rate was far too slow as well. It wasn’t a panic attack like he’d thought; it was something different. 

Din scrambled to take his gloves off and pressed one hand to the kid’s chest while the other tried to find their pulse on their neck. The muscles of their chest twitched in a way din knew wasn’t normal and he couldn’t find a pulse on their neck. 

“Adi’ka get the medpac,” din grunted, worried that if he moved the sluggish pulse would stop all together. 

Somehow the child understood and brought back the feeble medpac din stored in the hold. Thankfully din had made the investment for medscaner, a device that was able to scan and pinpoint issues that went visible. 

Din gave the cyborg a quick once over with the scanner, immediately it flashed red when din swept over the kid’s chest and its artificial voice read out the diagnosis  
_// cybernetic cardio-regulator malfunction detected; this may cause irregular heartbeat, confusion, chest pain, issues breathing and loss of consciousness //_

“Dank farrik! How do I fix this?” He asked frantically as he started to pull Jay’s shirt up to get better access to their chest. Almost the entirety of their left side was cybernetics but there were no access panels, visible buttons or switches. Din didn’t know where to start. The remaining flesh side of Jay’s torso was scared and a port was embedded into their stomach, a long clear tube connected to it. A nutrient port, din reminded himself. So what he’d done a bit of reader he into it after Jay had explained it briefly. It was purely to make sure the food they had would be able to keep them all alive until reaching ryloth, nothing more.

“Common kid, help me out here,” he snapped, shaking Jay to try and get a sensible response from them. 

Instead of a response from the cyborg, the tiny child crawled impossibly quickly up their chest and placed both hands on top of din’s, the twitching muscle underneath stilling as the child frowned in concentration. 

He was pouring all of his energy into Jay, din realized when the child had to hold onto his hand to keep from trailing backwards, his ears twitching as he focused all of his power through din’s hand and into Jay’s chest. Din could feel it, the soft tingling sensation that Karga had described.

“There you go, Gar serim adi’ka,” din said softly when the child seemed almost at the end of his abilities. “You have to save some strength, little one.” Ever so gently din cradled the exhausted child in one arm while he carefully monitored the now unconscious cyborg. 

Only 6 more hours to ryloth


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skipping over the logistics of cyborg heart surgery so no TW for any medical/surgical stuff the the best of my knowledge. I wrote this chapter on my phone again, sorry for any spelling/grammer mistakes.

Ryloth was supposed to be a quick pit stop for fuel and rations, however finding a medic was the first priority. 

The child seemed to have prolonged Jay's heart or perhaps the mechanism that kept it beating property, but Din didn't want to risk making the jump to Navarro and having the kid keel over halfway through. 

One side effect Din wasn't prepared for, but should have expected, was how cold jay was. Not only were they tackling adjusting to the new temperature of the razor crest, a significantly cooler environment when travelling through the extreme cold of space, but the added effect from slow circulation and implanted metal limbs that sapped all the heat from the kid. Fortunately ryloth was a warm and humid planet, although still much cooler than Jakku. 

_Hopefully the temperature shock wouldn’t stop their heart all together,_ Din thought.

Their blue tinged lips parted in a breathless gasp when Din opened the bay doors. A lush green canopy of trees obscured the rising city. After the destruction for the empire, ryloth had been reclaimed by its people. The scars of which remained on the land; sections of the planet’s surface were left barren and uninhabitable. However, in this area the wildlife had made a resurgence.

“It’s so… green,” Jay said quietly to themself, their visible eye as wide as possible to take in their new surroundings. 

Right, the kid had probably never seen anything green between living on Navarro and then jakku. 

“Yep, only gets greener from here.” Din warned as he firmly grasped the kid by their right elbow. “Let’s go get you checked out so we can get out of here quickly.”

The child was strapped into his carry bag. with no fear of sand, Din left the flap open so the child could look around. Din chuckled to himself when he realized Jay’s wide eyed expression almost rivaled the child’s incredibly huge eyes; that was not a small accomplishment 

Din wouldn’t say the locals made him uneasy, most Twi’leks were incredibly kind or at least minded their own business, but sometimes one would look just like xi’an and Din would tense before getting a better look and realizing that of course the she wasn’t there. 

“You seem… awfully… jumpy,” Jay panted as they tried to keep up with din’s quick pace. From his satchel, the child made a cooing sound as if to agree.

“I’m not jumpy.” Din said, addressing the child. He then turned his head to look at Jay. “I am not.” He reassured them.

The child only cocked his head and twitched his ears, clearly disagreeing as he gave another low coo. 

Ignoring both of the younglings, Din finally found someone who could refuel the ship. He paid and asked for directions to… well Din wasn’t sure who or what needed to look the kid over. 

“Got any med droids?” He asked, vaguely remembering that Jay had mentioned that at some point when talking about their… modifications.

The red twi’lek he had paid looked confused. “I’m sure there’s at least one in the city, I don’t know where to find it.” She replied with a hint of annoyance. 

Din sighed inwardly. Right, of course a random deckhand wouldn’t know where a particular med droid was. “Okay, anywhere with medical staff then?”

“There’s a few clinics further into the city. Look up a holomap or something.”

“Right, thanks for your help.” He said as cheerily as he could, but his deadpan voice and helmet’s modulator didn't convey even his false gratitude.

Jay seemed steady on their own feet for the time being so Din started towards the closest entrance to the city. Jay was slow, mostly because they were still enamoured with the tall trees and noises of leaves and birds. 

Din was absorbed in pulling up a holomap like the red twi’lek had suggested to notice Jay falling behind. Din scanned the holonet for any mentions of the droids on ryloth. He found a nearby clinic that was only a twenty minute walk but no obvious med droid mentions. starting there would be better than spending the whole day looking for one droid, re rationalized. 

“Hey kid-” he started, tuning back to see Jay trailing behind, their hand pressed to their chest as they tried to catch up. 

Swearing under his breath Din quickly retraced his steps and hoisted Jay’s human arm over his shoulder, taking the brunt of their weight. 

“Thanks… mando,” Jay huffed, shaking their head to try and get their dreads out of their eyes. they were extremely out of breath and their robotic hand still was pressed painfully to their chest. 

“Hurting again?” Din asked, already knowing the answer. 

“Yeah… just a… just a bit,” 

The child on Din’s other hip made a sad sound, his small arm trying to reach for Jay but failing miserably. 

“Don’t worry buddy,” Jay chuckled weakly, “I’ll be okay.”

Din didn’t say anything as they made their way painfully slowly to the nearest clinic. The whole time Jay was having a one sided conversation with him or the child, Din wasn’t sure. 

“Let’s just be… thankful that I,” they paused to take in a few deep breaths, “only got two regular limbs.” They laughed like it was a joke. “don’t gotta get blood to half my body.”

“Stop talking and start waking,” Din grumbled softly, checking the holomap on the tiny vembrace screen. Only a couple more minutes until they reached their destination. “Hang on kid, almost there.”

“I’m not dying mando,” Jay protested but their confidence was counteracted when they winced after tripping over a stray root. 

‘Stop acting like it then,” Din countered, not interested in arguing of their current health predicament. “Let me know when your heart’s not actively shutting down.”

Jay’s mouth opened as they were about to reply, however a new voice beat them to it. 

“Hey! Do you need a medic?” 

Before either Din or Jay could respond another set of arms were around the cyborg and taking some of their weight off Din’s shoulder. The speaker was a green twi’lek who was a solid head taller than Jay and possibly, but unlikely, taller than Din himself. They were androgynous in appearance, their lekku wrapped with pale green markings.

“It’s not far, don’t worry pal, we’ll patch you up real good.” The twi’lek said to Jay with a grin. “name’s Kori, I’m a medic.” They stated confidently.

*jay pov*

“How did you-” Mando started but was interrupted before he could finish, much to Jay’s amusement. 

“How did I know you were looking for a medic?” Kori asked for the mandalorian with a cocky smile. “Nothing much around here but the clinic for visitors, also your pal here’s looking a little blue around the edges. Not to mention you” they said, looking away from Jay to the mandalorian accompanying them. “Are dragging...” there was a quick pause as Kori looked Jay over.

_Ah yes, please just ignore the eyepatch… and the arm… and-_

“Hey, what are your pronouns?” Kori asked, bringing Jay out of their thoughts. 

Jay couldn’t help their wide smile, it was a pleasantly unexpected question. “They/them,” they panted before scanning Kori in a similar fashion. “You?”

“He/him I guess? but any is fine, I don’t really care,” Kori replied with that constant grin that made what was left of Jay’s stomach do flips. 

“Anyway, I saw you dragging them and put two and two together and figured you’re probably…” Kori continued talking and Jay tried their best to stay present but with the amount of brain power it took to place one foot in front of the other, they were having trouble staying focused on what was being said. 

Jay had known this would eventually be a problem, the med droids back on Navarro had given them a lifetime for the pacemaker and not being able to get tune ups had definitely not helped their situation. Still, five years of service were better than expected for a cobbled together pacekeeper.

They didn’t remember anything after that thought. 

Jay opened their eyes, both of them. Their eyepatch was nowhere to be seen and their left eye vibrated in it’s socket as it tried to focus. It was halfway through the recalibration sequence when a green shape moved in their peripheral vision. 

“Hey Starkid, you still with us buddy?”

“Starkid?” They groaned with a tired smile. “W’kind of nickname is that.”

“A fine one, because I made it,” chuckled Kori. “I’m getting you hooked up to the oxygen machine as we speak, how’ya feeling?”

“Like I’m falling through hyperspace.” Admitted Jay. Their chest ached and their arms were too heavy to try and rub away the uncomfortable feeling. 

“So not only a fine, but accurate nickname then,” Kori said as he moved around the small room Jay was just starting to register.

“Y’gonna fix me up?” Jay asked as Kori moved around, the hearing on their left side was dodgy at best but they could only funlly hear what Kori was going when he moved back to that side.

“Of course, _vida_ , can’t have you passing out again on your grand adventure. Milo’s going to help though; you’re a bit much for me to handle alone.”

His voice reminded them of the colour green, a colour that before this visit to Ryloth Jay had limited experience with. It was calm and soothing in a way Jay had never experienced either. 

“Cool.” They mumbled, eyelids heavy as they fought to stay open. “You’re green”

“Oh? I hadn’t noticed,” Kori faked shock as he once again walked back around to Jay's left side where they had trouble figuring out what he was doing. 

“I didn’t know there was so much green in the whole galaxy. It’s pretty.”

Kori replied with a noise that sounded like confirmation.

“I’m going to give you something that makes you feel really sleepy, it’s just so when milo’s rooting around in there you don’t feel anything, okay?”

“Who’s-”

“Our closest thing to a med-droid and the best thing we’ve got. Got the powder of the entire holonet behind it.” Kori elaborated with a soft smile. His hand gently gathered Jay’s human hand in his. 

Wait

Where was their arm?

There was a distant beeping noise as Jay tried to look down to see their arm only to discover it was no longer attached to their body. They could tell their leg was also disconnected.

“My leg, where’s my arm and my leg?” They frantically asked Kori.

“The mandalorian helped me take them off, I figured it’d be more comfortable for you.” He explained giving Jay’s hand a reassuring squeeze. His skin was so much softer than Jay’s they couldn’t help the small exhale that escaped their lips. 

“I like your hands,” they mumbled before Kori started to connect them to more tubes, his soft and gentle hands leaving Jay's rough and calloused one. Two familiar tubes ran to the port on their abdomen and a pink clear liquid pushed through one while a clear liquid slowly dripped down the other under the thin blanket covering their torso. Another tube also was taped to their face and into their nose. 

“You’re going to start feeling a lot better soon,” Kori promised as Jay’s eyes started to drift close. 

“Y’ll be h’re?” Jay slurred as they fought back momentarily against the deep pull of exhaustion. They meant to also ask about mando, but their brain was too fogged up to ask about him.

If Jay’s heart wasn’t already stuttering, it would definitely be with the way Kori was looking at them.

“Of course. Where else would I be?” 

Jay became aware of things in stages. It was the warmth and weight at first, an all encompassing feeling from the chest down. It felt safe, unlike the normal warmth on Jakku and far more so than Navarro, even if the tunnels had been slightly cooler. 

‘Hey kid.” 

The struggle to open their eyes was immense but eventually after gaining a little more self awareness, the blurry surroundings came into focus. Mando was sitting in an incredibly uncomfortable looking chair to their right still suited up in beskar, not that Jay thought he would ever take it off. They were all too aware of the code.

“Hi.” Jay’s rasping voice was accompanied by a limp smile. “Didn’t picture you.. as a bedside manner kind of guy.”

“Kori said you should drink something.” The mandalorian deflected. Handing Jay a small cup with a straw.

The realization that Kori wasn’t in the room was suddenly apparent “Where is he?” 

“Babysitting. Here, drink.” the mandalorian's voice was soft around the edges, less clipped and stoic

“I can’t,” Jay groaned. “we’ve been over this.”

“The medic said you could drink small amounts of clear fluids.”

“I can’t swallow properly and my stomach is basically gone.” Jay re-stated just to make sure mando fully understood. 

“Apparently their droid was able to make a small adjustment for liquids. I’m not going to ask questions about how.”

“If I die it’s your fault. I literally choke on my own spit.” Jay quipped, but the idea of being able to drink, even in small amounts, without the fear of throwing up the liquid or displacing their modulator was nerve wracking yet exciting. 

“Just sit up and drink, you’ll be okay.”

Just when Jay was about to take their first tentative sip of water a loud crash from outside made them flinch, spilling the small amount of water on their chest. Instantly Mando was on his feet to move towards the door as Kori skidded around the corner, a droid following and the nameless green baby in his arms.

“Change of plans!” He yelled, depositing the baby in the mandalorian’s arms who was already reaching out for the child on instinct.

“What’s going on?’ Jay croaked. They were still fuzzy around the edges and staying completely awake was difficult at best. 

“Storm troopers,” Kori hurriedly explained as he started to scoop items into a bag. “You’ve got to go, they’re looking for the child.”

“Kriff,” mando cursed. The mandalorian was in the process of securing the child in question back into the carrying bag. “Is it safe to move them?” He asked Kori, fully ignoring Jay’s grunt of protest at being talked about when they were right there.

“Usually I’d say no, but time is rather pressing.” Kori punctuated his sentence by shoving another bag at mando, “here’s some medical supplies, it should tide you over to a new location. Make sure to sanitize and get lots of rest and fluid.” He instructed frantically addressing both the cyborg and mandalorian alike. 

“What about you?” Jay asked, trying to keep their voice steady as Kori helped them to a standing position. the twi’lek held them firmly around the middle and at the elbow. 

“I'll be fine. they’re looking for a mandalorian, a cyborg and a green alien baby; not me.”

“You need to come with us,” Jay yelled over the sound of another large explosion. They couldn’t help but flinch at the all too familiar sound. 

“No, too risky. You need to leave. Right now,” replaced Kori in a voice so different from everything Jay had heard him say so far. It scared them more than the blaster fire outside, the raw panic and fear replacing what used to be so cheerful and upbeat.

Jay’s voice betrayed their own fear as they looked over to mando as they were dragged out of the building. “I thought the empire was dead?” 

*Din POV*

The most raw expression of fear was plastered to Jay’s face, no longer hidden by a mask or an eyepatch. For a second Din was in their shoes as if he was young again and the vibrations of explosions shook the ground. 

But he was here now, with not only the child, but also the cyborg to take care of. 

“The empire never died,’ he panted as he jogged, trying to keep and even pace with Kori who was the slowest of the group. Three stormtroopers barged into their immediate path. On instinct, Din fired his blaster and three smoking holes appeared on the chests of the troopers before they fell to the ground. “They were just lurking in the shadow.”

The pace was slower than he would have liked. To Jay’s credit, they were working with a freshly functioning heart, but they were still moving too sloppily, too slowly.

“Can you carry them?” He shouted over his shoulder at Kori.

“I can try,” he yelled back, stopping for a brief moment to slug Jay over his shoulder with a carrying degree of success. 

_it’s the best we’ve got for now,_ Din told himself as he picked up the pace. 

The razor crest would be in sight soon, they would escape and jump to lightspeed as soon as they were in the clear. Din was running through the logistics when a shout from behind made him check over their shoulder.

The BB unit that had served a repurposed Med-droid had been destroyed, its round body shattered into fragments there was no hope of rebuilding.

“Keep running,” Din ordered the twi’lek, trying to ignore the obvious tears gathering in his eyes. 

Din took down more stormtroopers as they dashed, the child tucked away out of sight as they quickly approached the razor crest. Kori had his arms full of jay. At some point they’d pulled out a blaster, probably the one that was on kori’s hip, and had covered their backs as they ran. Although the likelihood they managed to hit anyone was incredibly small. 

A few stormtroopers were there to greet them, blasters ready. There was a quick moment when Din realized he wouldn’t be able to take them all out before they fired but to his surprise, and contained pride, a stray shot from his left made the straggling trooper fall to the ground with a thud. 

Jay stood somewhat shakily next to Kori, blaster held outstretched, the glow of energy still fading from the barrel. 

“Good shot,” Din commented in passing after they entered the crest

“You’re starting to sound like my dad,” Jay grumbled, obviously trying and failing to hide their pleased smile. 

Din fully ignored the spark of warmth that settled in his chest at that comment. 

There was a short exchange between Jay and Kori that Din couldn’t hear but it was quickly over and the twi’lek was dashing out the hatch. 

“Com me," Kori shouted with a grin as he briskly walked backwards with a wink down the ramp before turning back around with a wave over his shoulder. 

The razor crest took off a few moments after the twi'lek was cleared.from the area and jumped to hyperspace shortly after.


End file.
